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The Bass Company
- Thread starter rontalsaurus
- Start date
Tslicebass
Commercial User
Well...its officially no longer the end of September, so I guess we can chalk this up to them wanting to make that April Fool's joke they missed when the website was down....no P basses for TB!
So, how does the story end? Who still owns a TBC bass?
I picked up a U.S. made with active soap bars and dig the fit, finish and tone. We passed it around the local shop for about 2 hours! Great find!
I picked up a U.S. made with active soap bars and dig the fit, finish and tone. We passed it around the local shop for about 2 hours! Great find!
Didn't we just have this discussion? Where's that other thread? I'll find it tomorrow morning, I hope.
Didn't we just have this discussion? Where's that other thread? I'll find it tomorrow morning, I hope.
After reading all 27 pages of this thread I was a little loopy... lol
Might be me that's loopy, I swear I responded to a thread like this earlier today, or yesterday, but I'm not finding it now. Someone was describing the wood pickguard and active electronics, was that you?
hehe TBC - The Bass Company | Page 2 | TalkBass.com
hehe TBC - The Bass Company | Page 2 | TalkBass.com
Yeah... that was me.
I'm really impressed by the bass... in active or passive mode the B string is even and clear!
I can't believe I'm so late to the party...
Yeah they were kind of an "open secret" in terms of value for a while at the time, if I recall.
I just picked up this minty TBC 5'r on my local craigslist with hard shell case. Looks like it was never played! Says made in the USA and I think it has a 2001 build date. I love the wide spacing at the bridge. Could anyone suggest what Pickup replacements I could use? I want to mod it with an aguilar OBP-3 and some decent pickups.
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I recall all the hubbub about TBC about 8-10 years ago? All the TB folks raving gaga over them. So I bought one to see for myself, paid $299 for a brand new JJ 4. Honestly, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. I thought it sounded thin, lacked clarity due to cheapo electronics. Also the wood pickguard was glued on instead of screwed on, and the control cavity cover was missing all the screws. They promised to send me the screws, but never did. It was very obvious to me that this was a slap-dash operation to begin with, and that the street price of $299 was at best, appropriate and at worst, too much. I thought the bass looked suspiciously similar in construction to a Lightwave Saber I once had (total disaster). Pretty sure the TBC operator and the Lightwave guy were brothers (seriously).
I wasn't really surprised that the TBC bass didn't live up to the Talkbass hype, I mean what could one expect for $299. What did surprise me was that while my expectations were low, the bass still disappointed. I'm not that fussy, if a bass has some merit I'll find it. My TBC bass showed me none. Still, others are thrilled with theirs. So....YMMV.
I don't like the electronics myself. Rotating the pickup pan knob is very drastic when panning to the rear pickup. Not very clear either when pan knob is centered. When I pan in a little bit more rear pickup, boost the bass a little, drop the mids a touch and not bad. The thing I like is the playability of the bass. Very low action and clear B string. Surprisingly clear B string! For the price the bass is like new and has potential. I am going to drop an Aguilar OBP-3 in and see what happens.
I currently gig with a Carvin XB-75 flame koa top. I ran a comparison and the TBC's B string sounded clearer. Running through My practice amp a SWR working man pro 12. I will update later.
I currently gig with a Carvin XB-75 flame koa top. I ran a comparison and the TBC's B string sounded clearer. Running through My practice amp a SWR working man pro 12. I will update later.
I think some of these "value for the dollar" efforts rather undershoot in terms of estimating their overhead. Some such places go under because they can't actually deliver the promised quality / value at the promised price point, at least, not very efficiently or for very long. Then they realize they're in trouble and start downgrading to cheaper components, in an effort to catch up, which only accelerates their collapse as customers notice the quality drop. Death spiral results.
Mine appears to be an earlier model. Not sure. I wish I could search the serial number on the back of the neck. It is light and fit and finish seem very good. I can feel the frets a little on the edge of the neck. I picked it up at a very good price. Plenty of wiggle room to throw a good Pre in it.
I can't remember the names (someone help me) of the two gentlemen of TBC and Lightwave are related, though I believe they are cousins, not brothers (though I may be wrong.) The original TBC basses were built in the USA, then production was moved to China, but the gentleman who started the company moved to China to make sure everything ran smoothly. The original USA made basses (most that look sort of like a MusicMan StingRay) are supposed to be of very high quality. The early Chinese basses are excellent for the price point at the time of production (early 2000's). I have a five string with the soupbars and have gotten tons of compliments from others on its sound at jams.
When quality control became an issue in China, production was moved back to the states, I believe to Arkansas. This would have been mid to late 2000's. The bass in the recent image in this thread looks to have been made at this time...as it was only the last batch that had MM pickups along with the glued on stained pickguard. I have a double MM 5 string from this era and I think these had their own quality control problems. (On mine, the pickup routes were so tight the pickups could not be raised or lowered...had to pry the pickups out, carefully enlarge the openings and then put padding under the pickups.) This later USA production was short lived, as Jack Wilson (I think is the name of the luthier who owned TBC) retired.
When quality control became an issue in China, production was moved back to the states, I believe to Arkansas. This would have been mid to late 2000's. The bass in the recent image in this thread looks to have been made at this time...as it was only the last batch that had MM pickups along with the glued on stained pickguard. I have a double MM 5 string from this era and I think these had their own quality control problems. (On mine, the pickup routes were so tight the pickups could not be raised or lowered...had to pry the pickups out, carefully enlarge the openings and then put padding under the pickups.) This later USA production was short lived, as Jack Wilson (I think is the name of the luthier who owned TBC) retired.
Mine has the TBC pre-amp, I actually like it, but mine has the soapbars and a 3 way switch (passive, kill, active). I also have 2 basses with EMGs and the Aguilar OBP-3. I can't really tell the difference.
What are you looking to change?
BTW... mine is labeled "Hand Made In The USA" but it doesn't have a serial number... so I may have lucked out and got an early prototype.
Either way, I compared it to the Spector Coda 5, and a half dozen others... I'm pretty pleased!
Either way, I compared it to the Spector Coda 5, and a half dozen others... I'm pretty pleased!
The balance knob seems very extreme from center panning in the rear pickup. Not a gradual mix. Overall tone is not bad. I would like to throw an OBP-3 in and have a mid shift option. the pre sounds a little noisy also. Here is a pic of the entire headstock. I do really like how it plays and how light it is.
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